CO oxidation
<>1) Low Temperature Air Purification – environmental purification / personal protection (gas masks) – the current AuTEK gold catalyst is significantly more active than the commercially employed Hopcalite catalyst impacting favourably on any performance vs. cost comparison. Furthermore Hopcalite has been proven to be moisture sensitive while gold catalysts show increased activity in the presence of moisture.
2) Selective CO oxidation in a hydrogen rich stream (fuel cell applications)
PROX – any hydrogen rich stream generated by onboard reforming (converting liquid fuel to hydrogen) is likely to contain 0.5-1% CO. Preferential oxidation of CO vs. H2 is the key to producing a fuel cell feed stream, in this regard AuTEK gold catalysts are being investigated for activity and selectivity.
AuroPure H2 – the storage of onboard ‘dirty’ hydrogen (10 – 2000ppm) or the use of a guard bed to protect a fuel cell from any CO contamination would require the use of a CO oxidation catalyst. AuTEK’s new AuroPure H2 system has been proven to outperform the current CO tolerant anode technology providing superior protection of the fuel cell system. Furthermore it is believed that this can be done within 1% of the US DoE stipulated cost target of $45/kW. AuTEK is looking for commercial partners to help develop this innovative technology into a commercial product.
System |
Performance loss
(mV) |
Performance loss
(%) |
Pt/C |
Tripped below minimum V of 0.25 V |
100 |
PtRu/C |
399 |
45 |
PtMo/C |
147 |
20 |
Pt/C + Au/TiO2 |
0 |
0 |
Summary of CO tolerance results (1000 ppm CO, 0.5 A.cm-2, 1.5x stoichiometric H2 flow rate, SV over 3 wt% Au/TiO2 catalyst = 250 000 ml.gcat-1.h-1, Au-based catalyst chamber at 25°C, fuel cell at 80°C, 30 psi)
Fuel Cells / Electrocatalysts
In conjunction to the removal of CO from hydrogen streams, AuTEK is also focussing on the formation and performance of CO tolerant anode’s using Pt/Au rather than the conventional Pt/Ru, Pt/Mo systems.
Photocatalysis
Here the chemical transformation of reactants by light is performed by the presence of a photocatalyst (typically metal oxides). The addition of gold to traditional metal oxide phototcatalysts serves to increase their activity, extend their light adsorption abilities into the visible region as well as catalyse novel reactions. Research at project AuTEK focuses on the photodegradation of certain organic pollutants.
For more information regarding the uses of gold catalysts explore the following links:
|
